Baroque Gardens in Germany

The princely seat of Karlsruhe (Fig. 462) shows how completely
the idea of the garden which dominated the eighteenth
century—that century of princes, as one may call it.

FIG. 462. KARLSRUHE—THE CASTLE GARDEN IN
1739

In 1709 the Margrave Charles William of Baden-Durlach built
himself a little shooting-box in the middle of the Hardtwald to
serve him as his Trianon. A hunting-tower which was in an isolated
position in front of the house, looking towards the wood, was the
middle point for thirty-two walks that were cut in the surrounding
wood. Even the ground-plan of the castle had to be arranged to suit
the prince’s whim, and its side wings were set at an obtuse
angle in a line with two avenues. The segment of the circle
enclosed by these wings and the buildings that adjoined them
farther along was laid out as a pleasure-garden the front part was
enclosed by groups of buildings for the court nobles, or for
servants’ use—one group between every two
avenues—arranged in precisely the same way as at Nymphenburg. The oddness of the plan at
the back was really grotesque; in the little circular bit round the
tower there were twenty-four small houses, one at the
starting-point of each avenue, varying in ground-plan, but all
alike in size; each was provided with its own little garden, used
for different purposes, as fountain-house, bath-house, pump-house,
etc. The place round the tower was adorned with four fountains, and
there were others put about in the thick of the wood where the
avenues are cut.

All these separate pieces, taken from the idea of the French
garden, are in this place stiffly designed and too bizarre. The
margrave soon preferred Karlsruhe to the Residence. at
Durlach, which was growing slowly because of the opposition of the
burghers, so he quickly made up his mind to establish himself
firmly there; and it was soon taken as a permanent home to settle
in. The front walks in the park, which led from the dwellings of
the court servants, were made into streets for the new town, which
now received the name of Karlsruhe. The town accommodated itself
all the more readily to the symmetrical order of this park, because
it embodied an ideal aimed at at the time—the uniformity of
the burgher houses: these had the Residence for central point,
threw it into relief and encircled it, and this was the first thing
demanded.

The garden at Karlsruhe in itself was never of great importance,
even when it was enlarged behind the house near the new castle
building. In some respects the fine garden made by Charles
William’s neighbour, Duke Eberhard, Ludwig IV. of
Würtemberg, at Ludwigsburg
near Stuttgart, and at much the same time, was far superior (Figs.
463a and 463b).

FIG. 463b. LUDWIGSBURG CASTLE, STUTTGART

FIG. 463a. LUDWIGSBURG CASTLE, STUTTGART

The arrangement of the park on the side opposite the
pleasure-garden has a certain resemblance to Karlsruhe. But water,
which is entirely wanting at Karlsruhe, is present here in a series
of fine cascades connecting the main castle on the side of the park
with the little casino called Favorite standing high on the hill.
On the other side also the pleasure-garden, which is remarkably
large and fine, is on slightly rising ground, so that the castle is
the lowest of all. On one of the higher terraces stands the famous
orangery, which had distinguished the Renaissance gardens of the
lords of Würtemberg in earlier days. The architect who gave
the final form to this garden was Giuseppe Frisoni, an Italian, who
began his career as a worker in stucco, but afterwards gained
experience by travelling in France.

The princes of the Church soon began to rival those of this
world. It was with difficulty that they had been able to preserve
their right of rule during the religious struggles which took place
in Germany, but after the Peace of Westphalia had lastingly ensured
their existence and their safety in the South and West, they felt
it to be more and more necessary to express by outward signs, in
the same way as their worldly friends, that feeling of sovereignty
which was added to their spiritual dignity, since they were princes
of the blood and gentlemen of standing. The war had been hard on
their estates, which were always in dispute, and they came for the
most part into possessions that were utterly spoiled; it was sheer
necessity that forced them to build, for otherwise they had nowhere
to live. The passion for building, which inspired them all, can
only be compared with that of the Roman princes of the Church in
the time of the Renaissance. They felt in just the same way that
their works were only to endure for the short time of their own
rule, and would in no way affect the future. This acted as a spur
which made them strive to do their utmost for this limited space of
time, and so connect their name with the pride and splendour of
their buildings.

The archbishopric of Cologne had to endure the troubles of the
Thirty Years’ War long after it was over; and it remained a
bone of contention even between Louis XVI. and the State. Clement
Joseph of Bavaria, who after the Peace of Nymwegen in 1689 was able
to enjoy his rule, stood in the nearest relationship to the
Bavarian court; indeed for more than a hundred years after this
date the archbishopric was a kind of right-of-the- second-son for
Bavaria, and this comes out in the resemblance of ideas for
building. When Clement Joseph was in power, his residential
castles, Bonn and Brühl, were mere rubbish heaps.

Still, although he betook himself almost at once to the
rebuilding of his castle at Bonn, it was only his nephew Clement
Augustus who was able to finish the place there, and to build a
series of other castles, among which the pleasure-castle of
Brühl (Schloss Augustusburg) takes the
chief place, with its fine gardens. "The first wish of the owner,
the first care of the architect, is to get a garden planted before
he begins on the buildings": thus does Blondel define the position
of the garden in relation to architecture in his Cours
d’Architecture. In any case, house and garden must not be
treated independently of one another. Clement secured the very best
of helpers in Girard, who during at least ten years proved in a
splendid way his skill and experience, both at Schleissheim and at
Nymphenburg. He made the plans for the park at Brühl, and was
often there in person to see them carried out (Fig. 464).

FIG. 464. THE CASTLE GARDEN, BRÜHL—GENERAL PLAN

The water was very finely diverted, especially into canal
and pond, but the way it was divided up was unusual at that time.
Not only was the whole somewhat irregular garden plot encircled by
canals, which also went round the individual thickets—a
reminder of the French Renaissance garden—but the chief
feature was a great canal in the form of a cross, in the middle of
which there was a small island, not where the parterre is
lengthened out, but in the axis of the court of honour; it was
reached by a bridge over another narrow strip of water, The
position of the parterre on the side of the south wing is also
rather unusual; the garden front is built out in a wide terrace
with two wings. The parterre itself is handsome, and on large
lines, divided by waters and beds, which clearly show the hand of
Girard: the only thing wanting is the wide view of the water that
we get in both the Bavarian gardens.

The numerous small buildings that enliven the park remind one of
Nymphenburg but everything here seems rather casual. The charming
little casino called Falkenlust is at the end of a side walk, which
issues from the great central star in the park. Nearer the castle
is the amusing little Chinese house, very suitably dubbed the
"Maison Sans Gêne" (Fig. 465).

FIG. 465. CASTLE OF BRÜHL—THE CHINESE HOUSE

The wish for private life, and detachment from the more and more
burdensome shows, made itself felt in things little and great, as
the eighteenth century grew older. More was known about Chinese
building than when the Trianon and the Pagodenburg were put up, and
this little new house had curved roofs hung about with bells. The
so-called Schneckenhaus (Snail-shell) is a thoroughly baroque
affair (Fig. 466)

FIG. 466. BRÜHL—THE SCHNECKENHAUS

set up in the middle of a circular pond: it is a kind of
compromise between the old Schneckenberg and a Chinese tower. The
park at Brühl shows all manner of indications of a new style,
without abandoning the large straight lines required by the French
garden, but yet more decidedly than most places that belong to the
first half of the eighteenth century. Particular boskets,
especially near the Chinese building, show wavy lines, though of
course they are controlled by the feeling for symmetry.

The great importance that the smaller ecclesiastical princes
attached to the land was not so much because of particular castles,
but rather for the cultivation and improvement of their whole
estates, which were not too big to be looked after personally. Like
the old Romans, these spiritual lords required their accustomed
luxury wherever they went: accordingly Clement Joseph of Cologne
had a corps de logis portatif constructed for use on his travels,
and this was made by a French architect and decorator called
Oppenord; unfortunately no trace of it has survived, So these lords
built themselves pleasure-houses and shooting-boxes in every pretty
spot on their estates, so that they might go from one to another
along the pleasant paths and streets and avenues, which broke up
the country as though it were a park. Clement Augustus made an
avenue of four rows of trees, from the Residence at Bonn to the
castle at Poppeisdorf, which was a fine little erection with a
round open interior court—a design we have often met with in
Spain and in Italy. Both castle and garden were the work of Robert
de Cotte, who built the castle at Bonn. The house was very greatly
altered afterwards, and of the garden little is known; but in
addition to the ordinary water arrangements it contained a cascade,
a theatre, an arena for wild beasts to fight in, and butts. It was
chiefly meant as a place for a park and for boskets, which could
not be had at Bonn, where there was no room except for laying out a
parterre.

How firmly and prominently the garden stood in the forefront of
men’s minds is indicated by Clement Augustus’s
institution of a “ Confrérie des Fleuristes,”
Their sanctuary was the chapel of Poppeisdorf, which had to be
decked with fresh flowers every day. A figure of Christ as a
gardener, with Mary Magdalene, composed the altarpiece under an
open berceau. From the castle of Poppeisdorf, which had the
advantage of a view over the Kreuzberg and the Siebengebirge, a
road led to the middle of the Kottenforst, and at the end of it
stood the handsome castle of Herzogenlust, awaiting its master. A
second road was planned to lead from Poppelsdorf to Brühl,
while another led from there to Cologne. Clement put a charming
little hunting-box on the top of the Humeling. This place,
Clemenswert, consisted of one central building and eight detached
pavilions placed round it in a circle. The direct influence of
France is undeniable, but the task is accomplished in a rather
original way at Clemenswert: eight paths start from the eight
pavilions, making a sort of star; the three at the back are
connected by a rectangular canal with three basins, and in front
the middle path leads to the stables.